Prices up, jeera is flavour of season for Gujarat and Rajasthan farmers

“I got about Rs 30,000/quintal for my 10 quintals. I grossed almost as much from these 10 quintals of jeera as from the 120 quintals of wheat that I harvested and sold at Rs 2,650/quintals. And I got this from just 7 bighas, as against 15 bighas under wheat,” said Patel.

About 600 km from Halvad, in Sultana village of western Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district, Laxmanram Ishram Jat has also sown jeera in 200 bighas of his total 300-bigha holding. In 2022-23 it was 150 bighas (4 bighas make a hectare in Rajasthan, as compared to 6 bighas in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region).

Farmers with their jeera harvest in Unjha mandi. (Express Photo by Gopal Kateshiya)

“Last year, I harvested 300 quintals of jeera that was worth over Rs 1 crore (at Rs 34,000/quintal). These prices have led me to cut (the area under) chana (chickpea, which has a government-fixed minimum support price of Rs 5,440/quintal) and raise the area of jeera,” said the 40-year-old.

The price spiral is mainly due to a poor 2002-23 crop from above-normal temperatures in November (affecting germination) and unseasonal rains in March-April (at the time of harvesting).

Both Patel and Jat have another, no less compelling, reason for planting jeera. It requires less water – a maximum of four irrigations in sandy soil, compared to 5-6 for chana and 10-12 for wheat.

“Jeera, moreover, needs irrigation only during the initial germination and vegetative growth stages in November-December. Chana and wheat have to be irrigated even at the time of grain-filling in January-February. By then, water availability in underground aquifers and dams also reduces considerably,” noted A L Sojitra, the in-charge district agricultural officer of Rajkot.

Jeera being handled in Unjha mandi. (Express Photo by Gopal Kateshiya)

Water is a concern this time because although both Saurashtra-Kutch and western Rajasthan received overall surplus rainfall during the southwest monsoon season (June-September), much of that was concentrated in the first half. There has not been much rain since August, raising questions on availability of irrigation water for cultivating wheat or chana.

The clincher, however, has been jeera prices that touched an all-time-high of Rs 73,755/quintal at Unjha on July 22. Jeera is an extremely weather-sensitive crop that can be grown only in dry, moderately-cold temperatures. It is also more prone to diseases such as Alternaria blight that can wipe out the entire crop. But for farmers, these are risks worth taking, given current prices and water availability considerations.

As on November 20, Gujarat farmers had completed jeera sowing on 88,696 hectares; it was 77,037 hectares during this time last year. State government officials expect record acreages this season under the crop, which is generally sown in November-December and harvested from mid-February to March-end.

While sowing data from Rajasthan isn’t available, Hitendra Gera, deputy director of the state’s horticulture department, confirmed that farmers are sowing more jeera this year on the back of high prices. Rajasthan and Gujarat account for over 90 per cent of India’s jeera acreage and production. In 2022-23, Rajasthan reported sowing in 6.59 lakh hectares (lh) and Gujarat in 2.75 lh, with corresponding estimated production of 3 lakh tonnes (lt) and 2.14 lt respectively.

“Farmers are queuing up to purchase jeera seeds, especially of the GC-4 (Gujarat Cumin-4) variety that is in high demand. Market prices of the seed have shot up to Rs 900 per kg, from Rs 700 last year,” said Gautam Patel, proprietor of Pramukh Agro Seeds, an agricultural input dealer at Radhanpur in north Gujarat’s Patan district.

GC-4 is a variety from the Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University’s Seed Spices Research Station (SSRS) at Jagudan in Mehsana district. Released in 2004-05, it is resistant to Fusarium wilt, a major disease caused by a soil-borne pathogen. “The variety also offers some resistance to Alternaria blight. Its plants bear branches from the lower part of the trunk itself, facilitating more flowering and number of grains, translating into higher yields,” said Popat Patel, research scientist at SSRS.

GC4 is a popular variety in Rajasthan too, with even private companies said to be marketing its seeds under their own brands. “We do not have any seed stock for selling to farmers. Farmers are mostly dependent on private seed firms,” said Jaswant Singh, managing director of the Rajasthan State Seeds Corporation Ltd.